Court dismisses motion to call back witness in Micah’s case

An Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday dismissed a motion filed by Counsel for Ekow Micah, the ace musician who is being held over alleged cannabis found in his home.

The court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandor, rejected the motion after Mr Andrew Vortia, Counsel for the accused person filed for leave to recall the second prosecution witness, to reject an inadmissible being wrongly admitted into evidence and further ordered for a mini trial.

According to Mr Andrew, after the case investigator Detective Corporal Richard Ayayi had given evidence tendered in court, the investigation caution statement, and charge caution statement, Mr David Merson who earlier on represented Micah, withdrew his services.

Counsel noted that after careful perusal of proceedings and information obtained since he became Micah’s counsel showed that, the judge’s rule with regard to the statement of the accused persons, which was supposed to have been read out to him and explained, was not followed by the case investigator.

In an affidavit in support of his motion, counsel contended that during cross examination by Micah’s former counsel, the case investigator admitted that Micah denied ownership of the alleged substance.

“That the statement written by the accused was dictated to the accused by the investigator on a promise that the case would be settled amicably, clear indication of coercion,” Counsel averred.

Mr Vortia said the purported statement of the accused was done without the presence of an independent witness, which also “sins against the evidence rule”.

According to Counsel, if the statement of the accused person was admitted in evidence, Micah would suffer “gross injustice”.

He was therefore praying the court to reject the statement of the accused.

However the court was of a different view that in practice, objection must be made at the trial and the recall of a witness is the discretion of the court, and his court does not see any compelling reason to do so, since the exhibit was admitted in the presence of the accused person and his counsel.

Mr Tandor said the witness could be recalled if the exhibit tendered becomes the sole bases for the court to admit.

“If I consider that as the basis of my decision then you can recall. It is too early for you to have come to where you are now. The opportunity to do that would be after the court uses that as the basis for its decision,” he added.

Micah has denied the charge of possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority, and he is currently on remand.

Narrating the facts of the case earlier, ACP Moses Atibillah said Micah is a resident of Ogbojo, near Kokrobite in Accra.

He said, on August 4, Micah was arrested by the Airport Police over an alleged extortion case currently under investigation.

ACP Atibillah said the following day, at about 1130 hours, the police and the accused person visited Micah’s house to conduct a search and in the process, a quantity of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp was found concealed in Micah’s “back pack”.

The prosecution said the exhibit was sent to the Police Forensic Crime Laboratory for examination. GNA